Quote by Walter Bagehot
Under a Presidential government, a nation has, except at the electing moment, no influence; it has not the ballot-box before it; its virtue is gone, and it must wait till its instant of despotism again returns.
Summary
This quote highlights the limitations of a Presidential government. It suggests that between elections, the citizens have no direct influence on the governance of their nation. They must wait until the next election to exercise their democratic power through the ballot-box. In the absence of this immediate influence, the quote argues that the nation's virtue is diminished, and it is essentially at the mercy of the governing authority until the next moment of electoral decision-making arises.